Traveling case or the like



9, 1955 e. FONTANA TRAVELING CASE OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 21, 1955 INVENTOR GIOVANN l FONTANA awzw ATTORNEYS Aug. 9, 1955 e.FONTANA TRAVELING CASE OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 21, 1953INVENTOR FONTANA FIG. 3-

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,714,911 TRAVELING case on THE LIKEGiovanni Fontana, Milan, Italy, assignor to Buxton, Incorporated,Springfield, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application January21, 1953, Serial No. 332,329

2 Claims. c1. 1s0- 3 This invention relates to traveling cases, briefcases and the like formed of leather or similar materials and moreparticularly to an improvement in the closure of such cases.

One object of the invention is to provide a simplified constructionwhich utilizes the stiffness of the leather, or other material, of whichthe case is made in the operation of the closure and which avoidscomplicated metal fabrications in the closure.

A further object is to provide a case having the above advantages andwhich when opened exposes the full cross section of i the case, whichwill remain in fully opened position until intentionally closed, andwhich may be opened by a simple separating pull on the closure membersand closed by pressure on the sides of the closure members.

Other and further objects will be made apparent in the disclosure of theaccompanying drawings and in the following specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a generally perspective view of a closed traveling caseembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the case open;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View on a larger scale takensubstantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing certain of the closure elements inclosed position; and

Fig. 5 is a view of the elements of Fig. 4 in open position.

Referring to the drawings the case is shown as comprising side walls 1,end walls 2 and a bottom wall 3, formed of leather or other suitablematerial. Preferably the side and end Walls are re-enforced or stiffenedwith fabric, card board or the like as indicated at 4 and the case isprovided with a flexible lining 5.

The side and end Walls have extending portions 6 and 7 respectivelywhich extend above the upper edges of the end and side walls a distanceapproximately equal to one half the transverse dimension of the bottomwall 3. The extensions 6 are preferably re-enforced with fabric, cardboard or the like, as indicated at 8, said reenforcements havingtriangular portions 9 which extend onto the end extensions 7. There-enforcements 4 and 8 are spaced from each other to provide zones offold 10 and the end extensions are provided with diagonal zones of fold11 along the inclined edges of portions 9.

Two opposed U-shaped members 13 are stitched in hems 14 or otherwisesecured to the upper edges of the extensions 6 and 7. The members 13 areformed of spring metal or plastic and the side arms 15 thereof extendalong the end extensions 7, the ends of said side arms being spaced fromeach other to provide for a fullness at 12.

Oppositely directed pull tabs 16 are stitched to the hems 14. A U-shapedmember 17 preferably of relatively soft metal or plastic and encased inleather or other suitable material as indicated at 18 in Fig. 3, isstitched or otherwise secured in superposed relation to one of themembers 13, member 17 being of a width to extend over the oppositemember 13 when the case is closed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The freeends of member 17 are flared outwardly, as indicated at 18, for apurpose later explained.

removal of articles into and from the case. To close the case it is onlynecessary to press the members 13 toward each other. Such pressurecauses the free ends of members 13 to swing downwardly, as theextensions 6 move toward each other into closing position. The fullnessat 112 permits the free ends of members 13 to pass each other, theoutward flaring of the ends of member 17 facilitating and guiding thismovement. As the members 13 approach the position of parallelism, bestshown in Fig. 4, the pull of the leather at the folds 11 tends to snapthe parts into closed position. Since the width of extensions 6substantially equal half of the width of the bottom wall the case whenclosed is of parallelepiped form. To open the case the tabs 16 aregrasped and pulled outwardly to bring the parts to open position asshown in Fig. 2.

While as stated members 13 and 1.7 are preferably formed of metal, thosemembers may be formed of plastic, thick leather or other material havingsufficient stifiiy yielding properties to perform their describedfunction.

What is claimed is:

1. A traveling case or the like, which comprises a bottom and side andend walls forming a rectangular compartment, said side and end wallshaving portions extending upwardly therefrom a distance substantiallyequal to one half the width of said compartment, the side walls andtheir respective extensions being connected together by inwardly biasedzones of fold and the end walls and their respective extensions beingconnected together by outwardly biased zones of fold, and stitilyyielding members secured to the upper edges of the side wall extensions,said members having side arms extending toward each other and secured tothe upper edges of said end extension, the free ends of said arms beingspaced from each other, said end extensions being provided with inwardlybiased zones of fold extending from the ends of said arms to the uppercorners of said end walls, said side Wall extensions being swingableabout said first mentioned zones of fold to close the case and bringsaid members into closely adjacent parallel position with said arms inclosely adjacent parallel position at the ends of the case and outwardlyof said compartment, said side and end walls and said extension beingprovided with respective interior surface stiffening members includingtriangular portions defining and limiting the width of said inward andoutward zones of fold at the ends of the case whereby said stifiiyyielding members are maintained in closed position in the absence ofclosure fastening means.

2. A traveling case as in claim 1 having a U-shaped member securedoutwardly of one of said members and of a width to overlap the other ofsaid members when the case is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS909,815 OBrien Ian. 12, 1909 2,123,454 Doppelt July 12, 1938 2,346,563Doppelt Apr. 11, 1944 2,561,042 Arnold et al July 17, 1951 2,634,836Warren Apr. 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 538.261 Great Britain July 25, 1941

